


Anatomy Lesson

by spritewrites (giggly__gay)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Because of course he is, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Tickling, and hinata's a ticklish little bitch, med school student kageyama, tagged for language, they're friends but they also hate each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25051399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giggly__gay/pseuds/spritewrites
Summary: If Hinata doesn't leave him alone to study, Kageyama swears to god, he might just have to do something about it.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	Anatomy Lesson

Well, this was the end of him.

Volleyball wasn’t forever. He knew that well enough. Very few players competed past high school, as the leagues got smaller and smaller and the time got more and more scarce. Being a professional volleyball player didn’t pay very well, especially in Japan, and Kageyama was told from a very young age that he’d have to stop playing and focus on a career eventually. Medical school seemed logical—paid well, and he already knew a lot about the body from his devotion to sports. Only one thing seemed to have slipped his mind: he was _shit_ at school.

Kageyama groaned, falling headfirst into his anatomy textbook. He still had a good few hours of study time before dinner, but he just couldn’t focus. It felt like everything was phasing through his eyes and falling out the back of his head; nothing could _stick_ like he needed it to. On the volleyball court, everything was instinct. He was confident in his abilities, and he could lean on his teammates for support when he needed them. School felt lonely, and there was no training he could do to improve—well, except studying. Because _that_ was going great. What was he thinking? Medical school? He must have been crazy.

His phone buzzed, and Kageyama’s hand shot out to grab it on instinct. Hinata’s grinning face beamed up at him from the glowing screen. Hinata. He hadn’t thought about his old high school teammate in a good few weeks.

“Hey, Kageyama! I know you’re busy with school and stuff, but I was wondering if you’d like to throw me some sets before the sun goes down. You know, like old times.”

Like old times. Damn. “I can’t.”

“Come on, Kageyama. What do you mean you can’t?”

“I mean I _can’t_ , I have a quiz tomorrow.”

“What kind of quiz? Maybe I can help!”

Kageyama rolled his eyes. “No, it’s—it’s for my anatomy class, I have a quiz on muscles. Maybe next week or something. I really have to study.”

For a moment, there was silence on the other end of the line. “Kageyama, you’re shit at studying.”

“Hey! I—”

“Oh my god, you can’t do this without me. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“No! Please! Hinata!”

The line went dead. Kageyama sighed in frustration. That dumbass was just going to distract him. Again.

***

“Okay, muscles, muscles… Jeez, Kageyama, there’s a lot here! How are you gonna remember all this for tomorrow?” Kageyama rolled his eyes and snatched his textbook back from Hinata, smoothing out the pages where the redhead had crinkled them while flipping through.

“It’s not hard. I do this every day.”

“Seems hard,” Hinata grumbled. “But if you don’t want my help, I can go back home.”  
  


“Promise?” Kageyama teased, his eyes lit up with humor. Hinata glared at his friend, but Kageyama’s slight smile revealed that he wasn’t really serious. As much as he needed to focus on studying, Hinata’s presence was nice. It reminded him of high school, and of the intense yet serene environment of the volleyball court. _That_ was the kind of focus he needed for tomorrow – a clear mind aimed at a clear goal. Hinata gave Kageyama a gentle shove, taking the textbook back.

“I meant what I said. You can’t do this without me! Remember all those study nights in high school? You need my special Hinata tricks to get this shit to stick in your skull.” Hinata grinned, once again ignoring when his old schoolmate rolled his eyes. “Now. Muscles. Which ones do you need to know?”  
  
“It’s medical school, Hinata. All of them.”

“Okay, okay, sassy. So. Step 1 of the Foolproof Hinata Studying Method. Mnemonic devices!”

Kageyama groaned and flopped backwards on his dorm bed. “Can we just skip to Step 30 where I know everything? I wish studying was more like volleyball.”

Hinata’s eyes lit up, and he slammed the textbook shut. “Sounds like you need Step 4, Hands-On Learning. That’s like volleyball! Putting the information in your body.”

“Will that work?” Kageyama asked doubtfully, sitting up on his elbows.

“Probably. You’re an athlete. That’s the kind of learning that you’re used to,” Hinata replied with a shrug. He offered a hand, and Kageyama took it, pulling himself to his feet in the middle of the small dorm room. Hinata faced him and began flicking through the anatomy textbook.

“Okay, so muscles. Muscles. Okay. So there’s muscles in your skull, that like, move your face and stuff–”

“Yeah, yeah, muscles of the face. Orbicularis oris, orbicularis oculi, buccinator, mentalis, zygomaticus major _and_ minor…” Kageyama listed, ticking off the names on his fingers effortlessly.

“Woah, woah, okay! You know the muscles of the face. Wow, you’re good at this, Kageyama!” Hinata said brightly. He flipped the page. “What are you struggling with?”

Kageyama sighed, running a hand through his long black hair. “Well, I get the arms and the legs mixed up.”

“Maybe hands-on learning will help! Here, you can use me,” Hinata offered, sticking out his arms and setting his feet apart. “I’m like the Vitruvian Man or something. Point out the muscles on me.”

Oh my God, he was serious. Kageyama snorted out a laugh, but quickly covered it with a cough. Hinata was exactly the same as high school, stupid ideas at all. It was a little endearing. “You really think this’ll help?”

Hinata shrugged. “Who knows? Can’t hurt. Start with the arms.”

_This is ridiculous,_ Kageyama thought, but reached for Hinata’s wrist anyway. Years of volleyball had made Hinata’s muscles hard and lean, but strong enough for Kageyama’s fingers to decipher them easily. He probed into his former teammate’s skin, moving up his arm, trying to measure his grip – harder than a brush but lighter than a massage. Yes, there was Hinata’s brachioradialis. And his, what was this called? His flexor carpi radialis. That was it. And then the biceps brachii muscle, which made up most of the bicep. And underneath his arm, that was his teres major –

Hinata made a strangled noise and snapped his arm to his side, his teres major slipping out of Kageyama’s fingers almost as soon as he touched it.

“Oh, God, sorry, did I hurt you?” Kageyama asked, startled.

Hinata’s face was pink. “N-no, sorry. I just…” He trailed off.

Kageyama raised one eyebrow. “Just?”  
  


“It’s nothing. Continue.”

He stuck his arm out straight again, but he seemed more tense than last time. Kageyama was curious – he didn’t want to hurt his friend – but Hinata didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so he didn’t push it. He touched his fingers to Hinata’s bicep again, trying to keep his touch light. Okay, that’s the medial intermuscular septum. Very important, can’t forget that one. And then the –

Once again, Hinata made a noise that almost sounded like a squeak, and he snapped his arm down. His face was _very_ pink now. Kageyama’s brow furrowed.

“Are you _sure_ I’m not hurting you? It’s not one of your old injuries, is it?”

“N-no!” But Hinata’s voice wavered when he said it. He must be hurt. Unless…

Gently but quickly, before the redhead could react, Kageyama took Hinata’s arm and probed the troublesome spot, right next to his armpit. Hinata nearly shrieked, jumping about a foot in the air and stumbling backwards to fall on his back on Kageyama’s bed.

“Hey!”

Kageyama’s eyes practically glittered with wicked amusement. “You’re ticklish.”

“No, I’m not!” Hinata replied indignantly, but his ears flushed, and he seemed to pull his arms a bit closer into his body.

No way. Kageyama couldn’t bite back his Cheshire Cat grin, unable to believe his luck. He casually took a step towards Hinata, who recoiled slightly. No _way_. “How did I not know before? In school?”

Hinata’s voice was casual, but his eyes were trained on Kageyama’s fingers. “Never asked.”

“So, you admit it!”

“No, I – oh, screw you!”

Kageyama crossed his arms and tilted his head, a mischievous gleam in his eye. Finally, a way to get back at Hinata for his relentless optimism, his endless helpfulness… it was all so incredibly annoying. That stopped today. “Promise you’ll leave me alone to study in peace and I _won’t_ wreck your shit.”

Hinata’s eyes grew huge. “Kageyama! But your test is tomorrow, I need to help you study!”

“Fine. Your choice. Help me study.”

“Kage – OOF!”

In one swift move, Kageyama was on top of Hinata, pinning the smaller boy to the bed with his weight. Hinata squirmed, trying to push his friend off, but it only had the unintended result of causing his shirt to ride up. Besides, honestly? You couldn’t _pay_ Kageyama to stop now.

“Okay, so the muscles of the torso. You’ve got your external abdominal oblique, that’s right here…” He prodded two fingers into Hinata’s exposed left side, eliciting a squeal from his former teammate.

“Kageyama, _please,_ don’t do this –”

“And you’ve got your latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior up here…” Kageyama carefully walked his fingers up the spaces between Hinata’s ribs, forcing out a stream of high-pitched giggles. Hinata’s squirming kicked up a notch.

“Kahahageyama, no, please! Plehehease!!”

Kageyama’s smile was _evil,_ but not as evil as his tickling fingers tracing the bumps of Hinata’s ribs _._ “Please? I asked you to please leave me alone to let me study, but _somebody_ didn’t listen!”

“I-I needed to come help you! You c-couldn’t do it on your own!” Hinata choked out between giggles, his face bright pink.

Wrong thing to say. Kageyama turned slightly red.

“I can do anything I set my mind to! Here, see how many muscles I know! There’s your rectus abdominus –” a scribble on Hinata’s stomach that made him shriek and try to curl up – “your transversus abdominus –” tickly pinches to Hinata’s hips that made him arch his back and cackle – “and of course, good old teres major!”

Before Hinata had time to think, Kageyama shoved his wiggling fingers into his friend’s armpits. Hinata nearly _screamed_ before collapsing into a fit of laughter, flailing his limbs in some kind of uncoordinated effort to _make him stop._ “N-not THEHEHERE PLEASE! I can’t TAHAHAKE IT! NOHOHOHO!!”

“Does it tickle?”

“Okahay FINE YES IT TIHIHICKLES!

“Will you let me study in peace?”

“YES! YES! Now STAHAHAP!”

Satisfied, Kageyama stopped tickling the exhausted redhead and leaned back. “Good. I think I made it pretty clear that I know enough for my test tomorrow.”

Hinata was still bright pink from laughing, and his chest heaved with gasps for air. “Thanks to me!”

Kageyama rolled his eyes. “I did it without you, you only distracted me.”

“But Kageyama, you forgot the most important thing about volleyball!”

“I did?” Kageyama asked, tilting his head.

Hinata’s eyes sparkled. “Teamwork, of course! You’ll never forget teres major again!”

There was a moment of tension, then Kageyama barked out a laugh, rolling off of his former teammate to lay next to him on the tiny dorm bed. “I guess you’re right!”

“And besides, we have some more time before your quiz. We could do some more of Step 4.” The sparkle of amusement in Hinata’s eye had sharpened into a gleam of mischief. Kageyama turned to look at Hinata, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, teamwork is important, Kageyama. And teamwork means trust. And trust requires reciprocation.”

“Reciprocation?” Kageyama asked, but before he could fully process anything, Hinata had used his volleyball reflexes to swiftly pin Kageyama to the bed.

Hinata’s smile was wicked. “ _Payback_.”

“N-no, Hinata, this is what I _mean_ about distracting – I have to _study,_ besides, you don’t even know the muscles you’re – _Hinata!”_

It was a while before Kageyama could breathe properly again, but when he could, he was ruefully certain that he could, in fact, name every muscle in the human body.

**Author's Note:**

> Main blog: colllapse.tumblr.com  
> Tickle blog: notyouraveragesprite.tumblr.com


End file.
